Awry Weekends

Weekend. The word used to excite me a year from now . The idea of hanging out with friends, going out on a shopping spree and a default break from the Office cafeteria food was enough to make me happily put in extra hours at the office on weekdays and take admonishments from the seniors with a smile. The weekdays kept me occupied with work, phone calls, meetings, e-mails or simply daydreams about the weekend plans.

As weeks passed, the work stated taking a toll on my weekends. "A couple of hours on the weekend, and you'll get a whole day off on any one day of your choice in the coming week." my supervisor would say. A nine hours compensation for less than half the time spent in office is definitely a good bargain.

For most of my Saturdays, I had a date with the Desktop in my cubicle. And the better half of the day was dedicated to my only source of income. An hour early in the morning to get ready and head to the office, an hour of juggling between autos and bus to reach the destination by spending fewer bucks, which cannot be claimed from the office anyways. " You're getting a whole day off for just a few hours of work" they'd remind me. Half an hour to get to the working desk after waiting for the only working lift to take me to the 10th floor. Work for two hours or a bit more, in the non air conditioned floor. "Not many people work in the office on Saturdays/Sundays, so we don't switch on the A/C, we can arrange for a table fan you wish "The Facilities & Services manager would say. The Coffee vending machines get serviced on the weekends and the washrooms and the staircase smell of the chlorinated disinfecting and cleaning powder.

After a few hours of work I'd call up a few friends to plan out something "interesting" to do in the evening. "But we thought you were going to Office today" ,they'd say. "I've already made plans with so and so for the day, We can catch up next weekend for sure". I'd do my lunch in solitude at a nearby restaurant, paying thrice the bill for food as bad as the one I get in the Cafeteria on the weekdays. Reaching home after another hour of travel I didn't have an ounce of energy to indulge in any activity such as reading books or go for a pleasure walk in one of the gardens in the Garden City of India. I'd try to make the rest of the day "happening" with hours of conversation with friends and family over the phone, utilizing the service provider's plan of "Only Re1 per minute for any STD call".

Saturdays went by, but I did have Sundays, all to myself. The liberty to spend them the way I wished to. I had already lost the opportunity to accompany other corporate friends who had their off days in common and had planned out a short trip to Mysore or Kerala. The others usually wanted to relax after a hectic Saturday and to get charged up to work for the next five days in the coming week.

When I looked back after a few such weeks, I noticed the weekends had changed their nature. They had started posing a challenge to me, mocking me for having a miserable time that used to be exciting for me at one point of time. I replied to myself saying, "It's my life, and I'll enjoy every moment of it. I'll not let weekends or my acquaintances tarnish my time. I do whatever I enjoy doing, and I enjoy whatever I do " I had heard positive affirmations work wonders, I thought let me give it a shot.

Last Friday, 5:45 PM: I was about to leave my desk for the day when a message prompted in my Inbox. I opened the mail and saw Tom and Jerry doing rounds of a house and having a gala time. Written beneath in red was "Happy Weekend, Enjoy !!" I smiled, and replied with two of my favourite smileys, else I would have again missed the evening shuttle to my home.